Letita James (Image: Getty)
New York State Attorney General Letitia James (D) announced on Thursday that she will not run for governor in next year’s election, setting aside a primary challenge to the incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to continue her work investigating the business practices of former President Donald Trump.
James will, however, seek reelection for attorney general.
“I have come to the conclusion that I must continue my work as attorney general,” she said in a written statement. “There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job. I am running for re-election to complete the work New Yorkers elected me to do.”
Hochul responded with praise for James at a press conference.
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”All I can say is I respect her tremendously. Always have. I look forward to having her on the ticket as we head into the November election together. And all I would say after this is this is a very bad day for Donald Trump,” she said.
Indeed, Thursday was not a good day for Trump. James revealed that she has subpoenaed the ex-commander in chief for a January deposition as part of her ongoing civil investigation into the Trump Organization.
Trump’s company is suspected by James and New York City District Attorney Cy Vance – who is conducting his own criminal probe – of having committed decades of fraud, ranging from fudging the values of various real estate holdings to secure financing to skirting tax obligations.
Prosecutors in New York are looking at financial statements of several Trump properties to see if the valuations were manipulated to benefit Trump.
Representatives for Trump and the Trump Organization said in a statement that the investigations are, as Trump has historically claimed whenever he or his interests are a target of purported wrongdoing, a politically-motivated sham.
“This is another political witch-hunt,” they said. “The only focus of the New York AG is to investigate Trump, all for her own political ambitions … This political prosecution is illegal, unethical and is a travesty to our great state and legal system.”
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